1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a receiver apparatus, and more particularly, to a digital receiver apparatus capable of simultaneously receiving multiple channels and a method for controlling a display function so that the same channels are not displayed in a mode of displaying a plurality of screens.
2. Description of the Related Art
The number of broadcast channels is increasing and a broadcast receivers for simultaneously receiving multiple broadcast channels are bing marketed. Such broadcast receivers include those having picture in picture (PIP) and double screen functions.
Also, broadcasting is changing from conventional analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting. Accordingly, a digital receiver apparatus for receiving a bit stream encoded by a high compression encoding scheme such as a moving picture expert group (MPEG) format, will be commonly used. For example, a digital receiver such as a digital television preferably has a function of simultaneously receiving two or more channels and displaying a plurality of screens such as those in the PIP and double screen functions. Also, it is preferable to control the display function so that the same screens are not displayed when a plurality of screens are simultaneously displayed.
To solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling a display function so that the same channels are not displayed in a digital receiver apparatus capable of simultaneously receiving multiple channels.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a digital receiver apparatus in which the same channels are prevented from being displayed simultaneously in a mode wherein a plurality of screens are displayed.
Accordingly, to achieve the first object, there is provided a display function control method for simultaneously receiving a plurality of channels and displaying the channels, the method comprising the steps of selecting a plurality of channels among received signals by a user interface, according to a mode of displaying a plurality of screens and displaying the plurality of selected channels, while controlling the display function so that the same channels are not displayed simultaneously on the screen.
To achieve the second object, there is provided a digital receive apparatus for simultaneously receiving a plurality of channels, the apparatus comprising a transport stream (TS) processor for extracting the A/V bit stream of the plurality of channels selected from an input signal according to the mode of displaying a plurality of screens, an A/V decoder for decoding the A/V bit stream of the plurality of selected channels and providing decoded A/V signals of the respective channels, a plurality-of-screens processor for processing the decoded A/V signals of the respective channels corresponding to the mode of displaying a plurality of screens, and a controller for controlling the extraction of the A/V bit stream of the selected channels, so that the channels currently selected by a user interface are not the same as the displayed channels.